?England earns crucial win against inspired Afghanistan

The pressure was suddenly back on Afghanistan when the chase began and any serious attempt to knock England over needed Mohammad Shahzad to fire at the top, not merely for the sake of quick runs, but to give his team the belief that it could go all the way. Willey shaped the ball perfectly back into Shahzad, trapping him in front with the third ball of the innings, deflating Afghanistan.

Two further quick wickets meant that Afghanistan could do very little with the Power Play, allowing England to control the tempo of the game from there on. Chipping away, England reduced Afghanistan to 39 for 5.

Afghanistan did not give up hope, and went down swinging. Despite the fact that no batsman was able to impose himself on the game, Afghanistan entered the final over with a sniff, 24 needed with Shafiqullah throwing his bat at everything. The first ball was slashed past the wicketkeeper for four, but two runless balls that followed ensured that England had the game in the bag. Shafiqullah’s 35*, however, had pushed Afghanistan to 127 for 9, reducing the margin of defeat to 15 runs.

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